The Past Returns
by TributeGirlInAMuggleWorld
Summary: Katniss Everdeen has a good life. She is the manager of a successful fashion company, has a secret boyfriend and a daughter that serves as a reminder of her dark past. What happens when someone from that past turns up and threatens to disrupt her carefully constructed life? Modern AU.*PENNAME CHANGE FROM MrsRuthMellark TO TributeGirlInAMuggleWorld* Catoniss, one-sided Everlark
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hey! This idea's been rumbling around in my head for a while, so I thought that I'd start writing it and see what you guys think of it! I am a MAJOR shipper of both Catoniss and Everlark so this story includes both! The Everlark is a lot, LOT later though, assuming this story is successful, of course... Anyhoo, on with the story!**

Chapter 1

_I see light. It floods my vision and I squint to see my surroundings. I am on a round pedestal facing a tall, golden cornucopia. There are twenty three other pedestals around it, all with people on them. We wait. A horn goes off and I am running. Running off into some woods. I run for what feels like hours, until I start to feel dehydrated. I stop to look in a backpack I must have picked up from somewhere. No water. I notice it's got dark so I climb a tree and fall asleep._

_Next thing I know, someone nearby has lit a fire. It's still dark. Idiot, she's trying to get herself killed, I think. I hear some voices. A scream. She's dead. The voices come closer and I freeze. What if they see me? I see them, they all look familiar, but I can't place them. I see a face I recognise. His blonde hair and icy blue eyes stand out like a sore thumb. Cato. What's he doing here, I wonder. They disappear off into the night._

_Now I'm running from a strange wall of fire that is shooting fireballs at me. One hits me. It hurts so much but I keep running. I run into some water. It soothes my burn. I hear those same voices and I'm up a tree again, but this time I'm sawing a branch off. The branch has a nest of some sorts. As it falls, I get stung. Three times. Another boy with blonde hair and blue eyes is shouting at me to run. So I run, eventually collapsing._

_There's a little girl looking down at me. I give her some of my food and we separate. I arrive at the clearing I was at at the start. There's a huge pile of boxes. I aim an arrow at a bag of apples. The boxes explode. I see Cato again, looking angry. He breaks a poor boy's neck and I shiver. Again, I'm running. I find the little girl caught up in a net. I release her and a boy throws a spear at her. I shoot him in return. I start singing to the little girl, and before long, she's dead. I place flowers around her and walk away._

_There's a voice making an announcement and suddenly I'm running to a river. I walk up the river and find the blonde haired, blue eyed boy who told me to run earlier. Except now, he's dying. There's a huge cut down his leg. I drag him into a cave. I am trying to keep him alive. The voice from earlier makes another announcement and I'm running back to the clearing. There's some backpacks on a table. A fox-faced girl runs and grabs one and runs off. Now, I'm running and I grab the one with a 12 on it. I almost make it away and a girl has me pinned, with a knife in her hand. She cuts my head. Suddenly, she is pulled off of me by a huge guy who bashes her skull in with a rock. He points at me, yells something and runs off._

_I'm back in the cave. The blonde haired, blue eyed boy is better now. We go out of the cave and start to hunt. We split up and suddenly I'm screaming and running back. He has berries in his hand. I knock the berries out of his hand and yell at him, tears streaming down my face. **That's odd, I never cry**. Now I'm putting the berries in a pocket._

_Next thing, we're running. To the big golden cornucopia. We struggle up and I see odd looking wolves growling at us from the ground. I look up and Cato's there, with the blonde haired, blue eyed boy in a headlock, grinning evily at me. I shoot his hand and he falls to the ground, getting mauled by the wolves. I aim my last remaining arrow at him and -_

I wake up, panting and sweating. I look around. Home.

"That's the last time I am reading The Hunger Games just before bed," I mutter to myself, shaking off the night's dream. I wander out of my room into the rest of the apartment and see my sister, Prim, sitting at the table eating breakfast. She looks up and grins.

"Happy birthday, Katniss!" she shouts, throwing her arms around me, "You're twenty six today!"

"Thanks, Prim," I say, ruffling her hair.

"Don't ruffle my hair, I'm twenty two, for Christ's sake, Katniss!"

"Doesn't seem like it sometimes," I mumble under my breath.

"So... would you like to see my present?" she asks. I nod my head, a grin on my face. She goes to her suicase and bings out a box. I open it and gasp. It's a silver necklace with a bow and arrows in the middle.

"I love it, Prim," I say, giving her a hug. She grins back at me.

Just then, the door leading to the other bedroom opens, revealing a small framed girl with my brown hair rubbing her eyes, but dressed ready for school. She takes her hand away from her eyes and looks at me. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue, much like the eyes of the boy in my dream, and they sparkle with happiness when they see me.

"Mummy! Happy birthday!" she says, launching her small body into mine.

"Thanks Sophia," I say, and smile down at her, "but you need to have breakfast quickly today so you're not late for school."

"Ok!" she says and launches herself at the bowl that Prim was eating from earlier.

"Sophia, that was my breakfast," Prim says, a small frown on her face.

"Sorry, Auntie Prim," Sophia replies, mouth full of cereal. I grin and grab a piece of toast and start eating it, without spreading anything on top.

"Right, ok. I'm going to have a shower, and by the time I get out, I expect your Auntie Prim to have taken you to school," I say, giving Prim a look.

"Ok, Katniss, I understand, you want me gone so you can spend the night with **Cato**_,_" she says, fake bitterness obvious in her voice.

"Prim, you're not the only one who wants to spend time with me on my birthday, you know. And, besides, you said yourself that you need to go home this morning, anyway."

"Yeah, you're very true. I only have this morning off work and it takes, like, three hours to drive home," she says, nodding her head.

I turn to my daughter. "Now, Sophia, have a good day at school, and be good for the lady who runs the after school club, ok?"

"Ok, mummy!" she says, bouncing up and down.

"Good. I'll pick you up around five, ok?" She nods her head and I turn to Prim. "Bye, Prim. You know you're my favourite little sister, right?"

She frowns. "I'm your _only_ sister, Katniss."

"I know that, but you're still my favourite," I say, grinning.

She rolls her eyes. "Sure, of course. When do you think I'll see you again?"

"I don't know, probably Christmas."

Her eyes grow wide. "But, Katniss, Christmas is, like, seven months away!" She pouts.

"I know, Prim, but I am the manager of a successful business, you know."

"Yeah, I know. But -"

"You can still come see me like you did this weekend, just make sure with me first that it's a weekend that I'm actually here."

Her face brightens instantly. "Yeah, ok!" She pulls me into a hug. "I love you, Katniss."

"I love you too, Prim," I reply, pulling out of the hug. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a shower." I start making my way to the bathroom.

As I reach the bathroom, I hear a "Yeah, you do, you smell" from Prim. I turn around and stick my tongue out at her before entering the bathroom. I turn the shower on and step in, feeling the warmth of the water against my skin. I wash my hair and body and then just stand there, letting the water run down my body, deep in thought. **Why was Cato in my dream? Why did I basically send him to his death at the end of my dream? And just who was the boy with blonde hair and stunning blue eyes that were so similar to my daughter's**_? _These questions are rattling around my head as I step out of the shower. I shake my head in an attempt to rid myself of those questions as I step out of the bathroom. Prim and Sophia have gone, which leaves the apartment eerily quiet. I head into my bedroom and start to find a smart but fashionable suit to wear to work.

It is expected of me to wear a fashionable suit because I am the manager of the huge fashion company, _Hunger_. I didn't start the company, the ex-manager, Cinna Kravitz, did. He was a genius in the fashion world, making individual yet recognisable clothes that everyone wanted. The designs he made were so unique, so special, they made him and the company an instant hit. I say 'was' and 'were' because, unfortunately, he passed away two years ago after contracting stomach cancer and left the company to his assistant manager. Me. I started in the company about five years ago, and shortly after I started, he gave the position of assistant manager to me. I had the privelege of working with him for just over two and a half years before he passed, leaving his company to a twenty four year old with a four year old kid. To be fair, no one knew about Sophia except Cinna, as I somehow felt that I could tell him everything, so most people thought that he left his company to an inexperienced twenty four year old. Sure, I wasn't paticulrly ready to own a company, but I somehow managed to maintain Cinna's good public image with the help of my oldest friend, Gale, my newly-found friends Finnick and Jo, and my new assistant manager, Beetee. It was a tough few months, but we finally pulled it off, and started to employ more people to make the workload easier on us.

I'm thinking about this as I find the perfect suit. I put it on and my mind drifts to the new clothing range we're working on, _Fire_. The inspiration for the clothing line came from Cinna's reasoning for moving me to be assistant manager 'I can see the desire to succeed in her work burning like a fire'. The clothing range focuses on the fire colours but also includes blacks and whites and other colours with fire-like gems sewn into them. Cinna was always adventurous; we try our best to keep that adventurous spirit in the clothing, almost like we are keeping the genius that was Cinna alive in the clothes.

I sigh. I miss Cinna so much. He wasn't just a boss, he was a good friend as well. I press a hand to my forehead. _Focus, Katniss._ I glance at the clock. 8.45. I have just fifteen minutes before our Monday morning meeting. I quickly brush my hair and put it into my signature braid, making sure that I looked presentable, then head to the lift that leads into my penthouse apartment, and my penthouse apartment only. You just need a key to get into the lift. There are four people who can currently gain access to my apartment; me, Prim, Gale and Cato. My relationship with Cato has been a bit rocky; we met at High School, had the typical teenage relationship, lost our virginity to each other and then I found him cheating on me with the school whore, Glimmer. I ended it then and there and went through a reallly bad patch in my life, before I found a job at the company. It turns out that Cato had got a job in the company almost straight out of High School. Almost as soon as I got there on my first day, he pulled me aside and asked me to forgive him. I did, because I had gotten over my heartbreak and a few years down the line he asked for a second chance. I gave him that second chance, on one condition: our relationship had to remain a secret. My reasoning behind this was because I had already ranted to practically everyone in the company about how he broke my heart in High School. So, they all think that I hate him. But, on the plus side, our relationship has been successful for the year and a half we have been together. Yes, we are taking it slow because I want to be certain that he is what I want.

When I get to the ground floor, I practically run out of the door, into my car and speed off in the direction of the company building. As I finally arrive, I glance at the clock in my car. 8.59. I sigh. I'm going to be late, as usual. I step into the building and head to the reception area, to have a quick word with the receptionist. As I near, she doesn't look up from her computer and begins the typical speech.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome to the fashion company, Hunger. How may I be of assi-" She looks up. "Oh! Miss Everdeen. Good morning!" she says, smiling her overly enthusiastic smile.

"Good morning, Ms Trinket. Is there any post or anything for me?" I ask, willing for her to be quick.

"Oh, let me just check," she says, swivelling her chair around to look at the mailboxes.

As she looks, I find myself first drumming, and then hitting the desk in front of me, hoping it will help her to speed up.

Finally, she turns around. "Ok, Miss Everdeen, you have -" she stops when she sees me hitting the desk. "Miss Everdeen, that is mahogany! And do _please_ remember your manners!"

"Sorry, Effie, I'm just in a bit of a rush, you see, I'm late for the Monday morning meeting and we have some very important matters to discuss."

"Hmm. Well, you have a couple of letters from some of our other branches, some job applications for the position of assistant manager for when Mr Wright retires at the end of this week and what looks to be a personal letter to you," she says, smiling as she hands the pile of envelopes over to me.

I smile back. "Thank you, Effie."

"Oh, and happy birthday, Miss Everdeen." I give her a grateful smile as I start to walk in the direction of the lift. Once it opens, I press the number 5, the floor number our meeting room is on. As soon as the doors re-open, I start to walk quickly in the direction of the meeting room. As it comes within my sight, I slow down and compose myself and, as I enter the meeting room, there is one thought on my mind.

_**The boy from my dream with blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes looked really familiar. Where have I seen him before?**_

**Ok, well there is the first chapter, please let me know what you think! Ok, so it's obvious who the guy with blonde hair and blue eyes is, but what role do you think he will play in the story? And what do you think that Katniss' 'bad patch' in her life was? All will be revealed as the story progresses, as well as information on Sophia and why Katniss has a daughter, but it would be interesting to hear your ideas and thoughts on those two questions above, so either review or PM me what you think!**

**I will try to update as fast as possible, but I am also in the middle of writing my other fanfic, _The Games of a Fox_, but I will still tyr my best to update quickly on both fanfics!**

**Ruth xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N ARRGGGHHH! I feel like lobbing this laptop out of the bloody window right now! Why, you ask? Because there I was, typing out this chapter when, all of a sudden, my laptop decides to delete all of the work I've just put into it, leaving me with nothing but the blank page. I was really pleased with how it was going, as well, and then - BAM! - all my hard work is deleted. I know this sounds childish, but I just want to scream and throw a tantrum! I AM SOOO ANNOYED!**

**Anyhoo, after my little rant there, I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone who is reading this story, I mean, 8 followers, 3 favourites and 108 views on just the first chapter (at time of writing)?! Thanks, guys, it really means a lot to me that people are liking my story, so, carry on reading and reviewing, and I'll carry on writing! So, as a thanks from me to you (this really feels like de ja vu, stupid computer), here is chapter 2! (hey, that rhymes! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! Oh there I go again haha... :D)**

**READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM AND PLEASE REVIEW/PM ME YOUR IDEAS, THEY ARE WELCOMED AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Hunger Games, I wouldn't be writing this.. then again, if I owned The Hunger Games, I'd be rich... like that's ever going to happen... :(**

Chapter 2

I step into the meeting room and all eyes are on me. I look up at the clock. 9.10. I decide to explain the reason that I am late.

"Hi, guys, sorry I'm late, I had to stop off at reception, and you know how Effie gets," I say with a weak smile. Everyone knows how much Effie loves to gossip.

As if reading my thoughts, Beetee says, "That's alright, Miss Everdeen, we all know how much Effie loves to talk."

I smile gratefully at him before I begin. "Now, before we get to the meeting, I'm sure you all know that this is Mr Wright's last week with us before he goes to retire, and I would like to say a word of thanks for being a good friend and assistant manager, as well as for helping the company to get back on its feet when Cinna, um, left us, and I give you my best wishes for a happy retirement." As if on cue, everyone starts clapping, and I'm sure I see Beetee wipe a tear from his eye. Once the clapping has subsided, I continue, "So, for the majority of this week, I will be working very hard to find a suitable replacement for Mr Wright as assistant manager, doing interviews and the like. I will also be working very closely with our employment and sales officer, Mr Odair," I lock my grey eyes with Finnick's green eyes, which have a mischevious glint in them, and he grins at me, "most of this week to make sure the person we employ in Mr Wright's position is fit for the job. As a result of this, I won't be as available to help with your issues, so I expect you to either sort them out between yourselves or to have the patience to wait for a moment where I am free. This week, we will be continuing to work on designing and, eventually, making the items in our new range, _Fire_. Any questions, either ask me after the meeting or, as I said earlier wait for a moment where I am free. And on that note, I will hand over to Mr Odair, who will inform us on how our sales are looking." Finnick stands up, and grins at me as he passes me. I roll my eyes.

The rest of the meeting goes by quickly, and before I even know it, it has finished. The time is 11.10, the time of our normal morning break, so I dismiss everyone, saying they can have their normal break, but must be back to work by 11.30. After most people have left, I head to the staff room, and grab a cake from the table and pour myself a coffee. I turn around and see Finnick, Gale and Jo talking so I decide to head over to them. I am stopped by an all too familiar voice that startles me.

"You know, Miss Everdeen, they say that too much cake is bad for you, with all the sugar and stuff." I whirl around and come face-to-face with the icy blue eyes that I have come to love. I say face-to-face, what I mean is, face-to-chest. Man, he is tall. Instead of seeing love in the eyes, however, I see a hatred. He is good at putting a mask over his feelings, but then again, so am I.

I scowl. "Well, maybe _they_ should realise that a person is allowed to indulge themselves in cake once in a while," I counter. On the inside, I am grinning at how we are able to easily how hatred to each other when we feel the opposite, but on the outside, and to anyone observing us, I am looking at him with hatred so deep even satan himself can't reach it.

He smirks. "Is someone grumpy because they didn't get enough sleep last night?" he asks, putting a fake sad face on, that I think looks really cute, but I don't show it. I note the code for _Are we still on for tonight? _in the question he just asked.

"I'll have you know, I slept perfectly well last night, I actually slept until about six o'clock," I say, scowling. His eyes show he understands the code for _Yeah, I'll see you at my place, about six_, but he just raises and eyebrow. In a sickly sweet voice, I say, "Can I go talk to my friends now?"

He steps aside and, in an equally sickly sweet voice, he says, "Sure. Be my guest." I start to walk over to the others, but he grabs my arm and then whispers in my ear "Oh, and happy birthday." I glare at him and he walks off laughing. I turn around again and head toward Finnick, Gale and Jo. Finnick's face breaks out into a grin when he sees me, and the other two turn around when they see him grin. They break out into grins as well.

Finnick bounds over to me and engulfs me in a hug, saying "Happy birthday, Kitty-kat!"

"Happy birthday, Catnip!" I hear before I am engulfed in another hug, this one by Gale.

Jo ambles over and playfully punches me in the arm, saying "Happy birthday, Brainless!"

I grin at their nickname for me. So many nicknames for one person, right? Finnick grins back at me, but then his face grows serious, and I know what's coming. "What did Cato talk to you about?" he asks me. He's been protective towards me in matters concerning Cato ever since I told him about our history. But protective like an older brother that I never had.

I turn to look at Gale, because I know what will follow from him as well. "What?" he practically screams in my ear. He's protective of me, too, but much more than Finnick. He moved to New York with me, and got a job in this company as well, saying that he's doing it to help me with Sophia. It's true to some extent, but I think there's something deeper to it as well, but I never push the matter.

"Well, he just saw me eating cake, said about how the sugar content in cakes is bad. I then got angry with him and he made a snide comment about me being grumpy because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I then turned to go and he whispered 'oh, and happy birthday' in my ear. No biggie, guys, don't worry about it," I say, hoping it was enough to get them off of my back.

"Ok, but how did he know it was your birthday today? That is what I'm now concerned about," Gale says.

I roll my eyes and open my mouth to answer, but Jo beats me to it, "Come on, Windy, think a little," I laugh at Jo's nickname for Gale, _Windy_. Gale shoots me a glare and I instantly stop my laughing. Jo continues, looking at me, "If I have got your history with Cato right, you went out with him for what, like two years?" I just nod, not trusting myself to speak. She turns back to Gale. "So, if they were going out for two years, they're gonna know when each other's birthday is, ok? Example: Brainless, when's Cato's birthday?"

"June twenty-seventh," I say, not even stopping to think.

Jo continues, "Exactly. Now, the one thing I am suprised at is that he remembered after what, like almost ten years since you broke up? Sure, you remembered, Brainless, but that's 'caus you're a girl. Girls remember things like that. Boys don't," she says this so matter-of-factly, it's hard not to believe her.

Finnick jumps in. "Maybe he still has feelings for you, Kitty-kat!"

I roll my eyes. "I doubt it. _He_ was the one that cheated on _me_, remember? Not the other way around."

"Yeah, have you seen the amount of hatred in his eyes when he looks at her?" Gale asks. _So, our masks of hatred really do work on everyone_, I think. I glance up at the clock. 11.32. The room only has the four of us in it at the moment.

"Guys, it's past half eleven. We need to get back to work!" I remind them. They all look up at the clock and then nod.

"I'm gonna go talk to Cato about it." Gale says. _Of course, he shares an office with the guy_, I think.

"No, Gale, you don't need to. It's alright," I say, pleading with my eyes.

He nods. "Ok, if you don't want me to say anything, then I won't."

"Good. Now, off to work, both of you!" I say, shooing them away. I turn to Finnick. "Alright, Finn, we need to get ready and start looking at applications, so we can go to my office, ok?"

He nods, his bronze hair flopping in his eyes. He pushes it out of the way. "Ok, I just need to get the stuff from my office, so I'll meet you there!"

"Ok, Finn, just be quick!" I say, watching him run off towards his office. I head to the lift, and wait for the doors to open. While I'm waiting, I feel someone's presence behind me, and I turn around. For the second time today, I am met with his icy blue eyes, but this time, he smiles.

I smile back. "Hey," I say.

"Hey," he replies, "happy birthday, babe." I smile again and wrap my arms around his waist. Almost immediately, I feel his arms wrap around my body and he kisses the top of my head. I soon realise something and lift my head to look at him.

"You already said 'happy birthday' to me."

He smirks. "Yeah, I know, but that was for show in front of your friends. This time it was real." I grin at him and reach up on my toes and peck him on the lips. I pull away from the hug, aware that if we stand like that much longer, someone might come along and spot us.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Shouldn't you be working?"

"Yeah, but Gale walked into the office and glared at me, so I knew that you had told them about our little... encounter earlier. The tension was getting too much, so I decided to go for a little walk to let him cool off, and I found you at the lifts."

"Fair enough," I say.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Shouldn't _you_ be working?" he turns my question back at me.

I shrug. "Yeah, I was just waiting for the lift to arrive. Finnick and I have some stuff to sort out regarding applications for the position of assistant manager."

He nods. I notice that the lift doors have opened behind me, so I step backwards into it, pressing the number 1, the floor where my office is located. "See you later," I say seductively, "and go back to work!" I manage to add as the lift doors close.

Finally, the doors re-open and I walk to my office and unlock it, waving at Beetee, who is sat at the assistant manager's desk outside my office. I close the door behind me and turn my computer on. I unlock the filing cabinet and get out a design for a dress. More specifically, a wedding dress. The dress is strapless, and is tight fitting on the upper body, with the dress flowing to the floor from the waist down. The dress itself is white, but lower down, it has yellow and orange 'flames' curling up fron the bottom. The whole thing has a few gems spattered across it, that twinkle in the light to give the impression that the dress is 'alight'. The dress was designed by none other than Cinna himself, it was his last completed design. With it, he wrote a note that said 'To my girl on fire, this dress has been designed for your big day, to make it even more special than it will already be. Love, Cinna'. The nickname 'girl on fire' came from Cinna, saying that he could 'see the desire to do well in my work burning like a fire'. With the note, he had written the details about a company that could make the dress for me, and they could make it very quickly, as a last favour to Cinna. I am so engrossed in looking at the design, I don't notice anyone in my office until they clear their throat.

I look up, alarmed, but see that it is only Finnick. He glances at my desk and sees the design. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were designing this wedding dress. But this doesn't look like the designs that you draw, yet it seems so familiar in stlye. Where have I seen a design like this before?" he asks, deep in thought. I hand him the letter that came with the design and he reads it, confused at first, but then his eyes widen when he reads the end. "Wha-? This is-? Oh my God! I can't believe this is Cinna's design! How-?" he stutters.

I smile, Finnick was never one who normally stuttered. "He gave it to me the day before he... passed. It was his last completed design, and it was for my special day. I never really planned on getting married, but now I almost feel as if I have to, to be able to show Cinna's last design."

"That makes sense. I guess you'll just have to wait to find the right guy though, huh?" I nod my head, thinking, _if only you knew Finnick, if only you knew._ "Anyway, we better get on with work, we have our first interview at one." he says, attempting to get to business.

"Ok," I say, "Wait, what?"

He grins. "Yeah, I scheduled an interview for today, the guy said he could only do today, and he seemed like a really good applicant, so I arranged it to be at one. All via email. That ok?" He grins sheepishly, he's always been proud of himself when he uses emails to communicate.

I nod. "Yeah, that's ok. A bit more notice in the future would be helpful, though!"

"Ok, well we have another interview tomorrow at ten, and -"

"Not now, Finnick. We need to prepare for today's interview first, ok?"

"Oh, right, of course."

We do all of the necessary preparations for the interview later, and I glance up at the clock. 12.30. Half an hour before the first interview for the role of assistant manager. I feel my stomach rumble. I sigh.

"Hey, um, Finn?" I ask.

He looks up. "Yeah?"

"I think I'm gonna go to Starbucks across the road to get some lunch before the interview, I'm starving!"

"Oh, ok Kitty-kat. Be quick, we want this interview to start on time, ok? Unlike this morning's meeting," he says mischeviously.

I stick my tongue out at him. "Oh shush Finn. I should be back in like, fifteen minutes max, ok?" He nods. "Good. See you soon!" I say, and with that, I step out of my office and head to the lift. Once inside, I hit the ground floor button and wait for the short, one-floor ride. The doors open and as I walk out of the building, I give Effie a smile, who smiles back. I cross the road and head into Starbucks. I pick up the last meatball and mozzerella panini and head over to the till. The girl on the till smiles at me, I've seen her a few times when I've come in here for a coffee, or some lunch. Delly, I think her name is.

"Hi, Miss Everdeen, how are you today?" she asks politely. _What is with people and calling me _**Miss Everdeen**_? Sure, it's good in a workplace but in public it's quite disturbing, _I think.

"Please call me Katniss, Delly, is it?"

She nods. "Oh, ok _Katniss_. And yes, my name is Delly." she smiles again. There's something about this girl that makes me want to smile, too.

"I'm doing fine, thanks, Delly. And yourself?"

"Yeah I'm good. Well, as good as you can be when you work in a coffee shop!" she says, shrugging.

I smile back. "Well, you could always try get a job in my company, we're still looking for another receptionist to help Effie with all her workload, and you're definitely enough of a people's person to be good for a receptionist!"

She widens her eyes. "Really?" I nod. "Oh my God, thank you! I'll drop by after my shift and get an application form for a receptionist! Thank you so much!"

I shrug. "It's no problem, Delly. We're always looking for more help, after all, many hands make light work, isn't that what they say?"

She nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, I think so! Now would you like me to cook that panini for you?" I nod and hand her the panini. She puts it under the grill, comes back over and puts it into the till. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, can I have a medium latte and a cookie? Oh, and a chocolate muffin as well, for my friend, Finnick? All to go, please."

She smiles. "Sure." She inputs it all into the till and goes to make my latte. She brings it back in a paper cup, and puts the cookie and muffin into a bag. The timer for the panini goes off and she slips it into another bag. I pay for the food with my card and hurry out the door, waving a goodbye to Delly, who had started to serve another customer, anyway. I head back over the road and into the company building. I look up at the clock. 12.42. I decide to head over to Effie and inform her that Delly will be visiting later.

"Good afternoon, Miss Everdeen." She smile her over-enthusiastic smile. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, nothing too important, thank you Effie, as I'm just headed up to my office and then to the interview room, but I need to inform you that a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes called Delly will be arriving later, asking for a receptionist application form." She frowns at this. "Now, Effie, I'm not going to fire you, I just thought it looked like you could use the extra help."

She nods. "Yes, the extra help would be appreciated, it's just not in my nature to ask for someone to help me, bad manners, see?" I nod. "Yes, I will welcome the extra help with open arms."

I smile. "Good, I'm glad you agree. I'm sure you'll love Delly, she's bright and bubbly, just like you. Anyway, I really do need to get going, there's an interview in fifteen minutes."

"Yes. Well, thank you for informing me, Miss Everdeen, I would have been very concerned by her appearance had you not told me. So thank you for your good manners!"

"No problem, Effie. Goodbye!" I say, turning to leave.

"Goodbye, Miss Everdeen! Enjoy the interview!" I smlie as I walk away. I call the lift and it opens immediately. I press the number one, still juggling my coffee cup and the two bags in my hands. The lift opens and I head into my office, smiling at Beetee. When I enter, Finnick is still sat there, but looking at the design of the wedding dress, nibbling on a sandwich and obviously deep in thought. I close the door loudly, but not slamming it, making him jump.

"The design has piqued your interest, has it then Finnick?" I ask.

He turns around. "Yeah, it's just so... beautiful. I could imagine you wearing that dress, Kitty."

I drop into my chair. "Yeah, well, it will be a while before I'm wearing it, if at all," I say, taking a bite out of my panini, "and Finn, you must promise me not to mention _anything _about this design or this dress to _anyone_, understand? I want this to remain secret for the moment." He nods. I can feel anger rising up inside of me. "Dammit, Finnick, I need to hear the words 'I promise' come out of your _fucking _mouth, not just a nod!"

"I... I promise, Kitty." His voice is small, apparently I'm scary when I get worked up.

I narrow my eyes. "You promise _what_?" I take another bite out of my panini.

"I promise not to mention anything about the design or dress to anyone."

I nod in satisfaction and nudge the bag containing the cookie and muffin towards him. "Good. I bought you something from Starbucks, just 'caus I'm a nice person. Sometimes." I pause. "Watch the 'sometimes'!"

He grins at me, then looks inside the bag. "You bought a muffin for me? On your birthday?"

I nod. "Refer to previous comment," I say, as he takes a huge bite out of the muffin. I roll my eyes and finish my panini and grab the bag with the cookie inside it. "Come on, Finn, we need to go. It's like five to one!"

He nods and says "Moohkhhay, barrt mmnneeefffeer ovvv uzz nozzz annnyfffmming abbhhout hhhiimmmm, rhhhiiittttt." His mouth was obvously still full of muffin.

"What?"

He swallows. "I said 'ok, but neither of us knows anything about him, right?" he says, "Well, other than that he's a 'he'." I nod. It's company protocol that when someone has applied for a job in this company, the only personal information that is given is their gender, so people can't give biased opinions on whether or not the person gets an interview. It's all based on their previous job performances and CV.

"So, what's this guy like, Finn? Job-wise, I mean," I ask as we head out of my office, holding my coffee and eating my cookie.

"Well, he worked in a bakery for most of his childhood, as his parents owned a bakery. He did pictures for the menus and decorated a lot of the cakes," he begins, reading off of the job application, "He then went on to university at California, taking concept design... hey, I went to California Uni! I wonder if I'll know him... Wait a minute, this sounds familiar..." At the word California, I narrow my eyes. California is where I grew up, and also happens to be where the 'bad patch' in my life happened, before I moved to New York and joined the company.

"Wait, you mean you haven't looked at the application properly yet, Finn?" He grins sheepishly. "Finn!"

"Sorry! It's just he emailed me and practically begged me to let him have an interview. He gave me his application number, as well!" I sigh. "Can I go on?" I nod. We're almost at the interview floor. "Ok, after he left uni, he moved to New York and has had various jobs here and there, all involving artwork of some kind, and even a short managerial position! If this is who I think it is, then we're in for a treat, and we might have even found THE guy for you, Katniss!"

"Hmm, I doubt it, Finn," I say, as the lift doors open. I take a sip out of my drink, which is still hot. "I guess all that's left now is to meet him. Did Effie bring him up?"

He checks his phone. "Yep, Effie says he's sat at the table 'anticipating our arrival'." He air quotes with his fingers on that last part. "Whatever that means."

I laugh as we reach the room. Finnick opens the door for me, saying "Ladies first". I grin at him and glance at the guy sat in the chair opposite ours. His head is hung, almost like he's a criminal, and his blonde hair is hanging in his face, curling slightly at the ends. Finnick closes the door and, as he does, the man sat before us lifts his head. The first thing I notice is his eyes. They are the most beautiful shade of blue and they draw me to him. I glance quickly at Finnick and, judging by the grin on his face, it is the guy that he thought it was. I turn back to the guy sat in front of us, and realisation dawns on me. I freeze.

_**The boy from my dream with blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes is sat right in front of me... how did this happen?**_

**Well there it is, chapter 2! I know some of you have been looking forward to it, so here! Ok, I have a few questions for you to answer, just so I can get your ideas on what you think will happen later on in the story...**

**1. Who do you think the guy with the blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes is?**

**2. Do you think he has anything to do with Katniss' past? If so, what?**

**3. What do you think Katniss' 'bad patch' in her life was?**

**4. What's your favourite part/character of the story so far?**

**All answers to these questions will be answered later in the story (except the last one; I just want to know who and what you like about this story), so please review and tell me your answers!**

**Also, I am aware that everyone is a little OOC in my story, but that's just how I want to write them in this particular story. I will try to update as much as I can over the next week, as I have no exams, but I can't guarantee how often that will be, if my laptop keeps deciding to delete massive chunks of each chapter.**

**See ya next time!**

**Ruth xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N OMG I'm sooo sorry guys! I had a really busy exam period and then my mum decided to confiscate all of my electronic stuff, because apparently they 'pose too much of a distraction'... whatever that means...**

**Thanks for your reviews, guys, it means a lot to me that people like my story and want me to update faster, and I promise that I will try my hardest over the summer, but I can't guarantee anything.**

**Anyhoo, here is the long-anticipated chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: You think I own the Hunger Games? Haha, good joke! But, seriously, I don't.**

Chapter 3

"Finnick? Is that you?" the guy sat at the table asks, eyes wide open in shock and disbelief.

Finnick's grin widens even more, which I didn't even think was possible. "Yeah. You alright, Peety?"

He nods. "Yeah, been moving around a lot, trying to find the ideal job."

Finnick goes and slaps him on the back. "Well, Peet, this might be the job for you. That is, if your interview is a success..." he trails off, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

The guy just laughs. "Let's hope so, Finn."

Finnick opens his mouth to reply, but I clear my throat loudly, having snapped out of my daze. "Mr Odair, this is a _formal_ job interview, not some get-together with someone you knew at university," I say, trying to hurry things along so the interview can be over and done with

"Sorry, Miss Everdeen," he mumbles. The guy sat down opposite us widens his eyes in recognition, causing me to become suspicious**. Just who is this guy? **I wonder.

"Ok." I turn to the guy. "Katniss Everdeen, manager of this fashion company, Hunger," I say, sticking my hand out towards him.

He shakes my hand, bright blue eyes sparkling. "Peeta Mellark. And I know who you are, Miss Everdeen," he says with a shy grin on his face. **Well, at least this guy has manners,** I think.

I smile back. "And I can presume you already know our employment officer, Finnick Odair."

"Yeah, I went to university with him." I see Finnick grin out of the corner of my eye and I manage to stop myself from rolling my eyes at him.

I see this comment as a cue to start the interview properly. "So, _Peeta_, what did you study at university?" I say, taking my seat and getting out a notebook and pen. Finnick follows my lead, doing the same as me.

"I studied concept design," he states, visibly relaxing in his chair.

"Ok. Do you design a lot in your free time?"

He shrugs. "Bits and pieces. I paint more often, though. It feels more... therapeutic, I guess."

I nod. Finnick asks the next question. "Did you bring any of these to show us, Peet?" I send him a look that says, **keep it formal, Odair.**

Peeta smiles. "Yeah, just a few. Do you want to see them?" We both nod, and he reaches into his bag and brings out a few pieces of paper. I pull the sheets closer. They are all full of intricately designed clothes and expertly painted scenes, full of flowers and other things from nature.

"I knew he was good, but I didn't know he was this good," Finnick mumbles to me, so Peeta can't hear.

"They're amazing. Where did you learn to draw like this?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "I've been drawing all of my life. It's just natural talent, I guess." I look at the sheets of paper once more before handing them back.

From there, the interview runs very smoothly, and it quickly becomes clear that Peeta Mellark has a very good way with words. Another natural talent, I guess. As the interview comes to a close, it becomes quite obvious that Peeta belongs in our company, although I am unsure as to whether or not it should be as assistant manager. As I stand to shake his hand goodbye, Finnick does the same, and sends me a look, asking, **can I?** I roll my eyes and nod, and Finnick rushes to the other side of the table and engulfs Peeta in a 'man' hug

"I'll keep in touch, Peet, don't you worry." Finnick says after they've finished 'man' hugging.

"Awesome." He glances at his watch. "Oh, I need to go. Is that alright?" Both Finnick and I nod. "Well, good to see you again, Finnick, and it was nice meeting you, Miss Everedeen. I hope we can work together in the future."

I just smile. "It was nice meeting you, too. I look forward to _potentially_ seeing you again." He grins and walks out. I sigh and slump in my chair.

"What? Oh, come on, Kitty, he was good. Amazing, in fact!" Finnick says, grinning like crazy.

"I know, Finn, he was amazing."

He narrows his eyes. "But," he encourages me to continue.

"But I don't think he's suited to the role of assistant manager, although I do think he should have another job in the company, it just feels like he will bring something amazing, something, I don't know, _edgy_, to this company. I just need to think of where he could go in the company," I say, hoping that Finnick will follow me and understand.

He rubs his chin, deep in thought. "Hmm. Now that you mention it, I see what you mean. He _would_ be best suited somewhere else in the company."

"Glad you agree with me for once in your life," I say, sending him a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, makes a change, doesn't it?" He sticks his tongue out at me. I roll my eyes and glance up at the clock. 3.00.

I sigh. "Finn, I need to go to my office. I have to leave at half four to pick up Sophia, so I only have an hour and a half to do some work."

"Oh, ok. I should probably go do some work, sort out interviews and stuff. Speaking of which, we have an interview at ten tomorrow morning."

"Cool. Thanks for the heads up this time, Finn."

He grins. "No probs. See you tomorrow, then?"

I nod. "See you tomorrow, Finn." I open the door and head to the lift, which opens straight away. I get in and head to my office. Just before I open the door, Beetee clears his throat and I look over to him.

"Miss Everdeen, you have a call that has just come through on line one."

"Thank you, Beetee!" I say, smiling. He smiles back and I go into my office and pick up the phone. "Hello, Katniss Everdeen speaking, how may I help you?"

"Katniss? There's no need to sound formal, it's just me." I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Hi, mum."

"Hi honey. I was just ringing to say 'happy birthday', really. Oh, and that Prim got home safely, as well."

"Thanks mum, and I'm glad Prim is ok. How's dad?" I dare to ask, not expecting good news, judging by what Prim told me this weekend.

"Oh, he's fine, really. Just a broken leeg, that's all." I breathe a sigh of relief. "Judging by that sigh, I expect that Prim told you an extreme version of events, as usual?"

"Yeah, something like that. I'm glad he's ok and all, but mum?"

"Yes, Katniss?"

"I really need to get on with work, I'm leaving to collect Sophia at half four and I really need to finish this thing that I'm working on. I really wish that we could finish this conversation, but I really need to get on."

"That's fine, Katniss." The disappointment is obvious in her voice. I ignore it.

"Ok. Speak to you soon, mum."

"Bye, honey."

"Bye." I hang up and turn to my computer and begin my little interview review.

Forty-five minutes later, there is a knock at my door. "Come in," I say, and I hear the door opening and closing. I look up and see Gale standing there, smiling at me. I smile back.

"Hey, um, I just came to give you these designs that I've finalised, like you asked for." He hands me some pieces of paper and a place them on my desk to look at later.

"Thanks. And early, as usual," I say with a sly smile.

He rubs the back of his neck. "Hey, I was wondering if you want me to come over tonight for a movie night like we used to do back in school, becuase it'll just be you and Sophia."

I sigh. "Sorry Gale, it's just that," I try to think of a suitable lie to cover up, "Prim decided to stay one last night, so that I would have someone to spend my birthday with, as Sophia's going round to a friend's for a sleepover."

He frowns. "Prim can join in with us, I don't mind."

"Gale, I-"

"I can even bring popcorn, ice cream and sweets just like years ago, as well," he says, interrupting me.

"Gale, I want to spend the night with my sister," he opens his mouth to protest, but I cut him off, "and my sister _alone_."

He nods, defeat written all over his face. "Ok, I understand."

"Gale, maybe we can have tomorrow night as a movie night instead, yeah? It'll be more fun with Sophia there anyway, she loves watching movie with you, she told me."

"Really?" I nod my head. "Yeah, ok, I guess we could have a movie night tomorrow."

"Ok then Gale, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye, Katniss!" he says and walks out the door closing it carefully behind him. I breathe a sigh of relief, grateful that he bought into my lie. I turn back to my computer to finish off what Gale interrupted, and before I know it, it's half past four. I turn my computer off and tidy my desk up. I head out of my office and lock the door, bidding goodbye to Beetee.

As I walk through reception, Effie says, "Goodbye, Miss Everdeen. Have a lovely night." She smiles.

I smile back and say, "Thank you, Effie. You have a good night, too." I drive back to my apartment and rush up to my suite. I grab Sophia's overnight things, as I forgot to pick them up this morning in my hurry, and rush back downstairs and back into my car to go pick her up. Once I have picked her up and dropped her off at her friend's house, I head home.

As I enter my apartment, I look at the clock on my bedside table. 5.30. Half an hour 'til Cato arrives. I decide that we're going to have pizza for dinner, so I call up our favourite takeaway shop and order our usuals. I then decide to go have a quick shower. After my shower, I change into some grey trackies and a blue short sleeved t-shirt that says 'NERD' on it, so my outfit is completely casual, as it should be. I start to brush my hair, and as I do, I hear the lift open, which tells me that Cato has arrived. I quickly finish brushing my hair and head out of the bedroom, to find Cato standing there with a couple of pizza boxes in his hand.

"I'm guessing this is our dinner tonight, then?" he says, smirking. I glare up at him. "What? I'm only joking, you know how much I love these pizzas!" This time, I roll my eyes at him, realising something.

"Cato, did you pay for those pizzas?"

He grins. "Yup. The delivery guy was in the lift area when I got there, wondering how to get up to the penthouse suite, and I said that I was going up there and he asked me if I could take them up, so I said yes, and paid for them."

"I was happy to pay for them!"

"Yes, but it is your birthday, Kat."

I sigh. "Fine." He steps forward and wraps his arms around my waist, and mine find their way to around his neck. I notice that he's dressed casual, too, in shorts and a plain shirt. I rest my head on his chest and I feel his hot breath on my ear.

"I love you Kat, and I'm so glad that you gave me this second chance."

I lift my head and look at him. "Cato, we've been going out for a year and a half now, I think we can forget about that. I trust you with all my heart and I believe that you will not go behind my back again."

"I know. I just can't help thinking that if I hadn't fucked up in high school, then we might be somewhere different. You know, living somewhere different, doing something different, and not having a secret relationship."

"Yes, but if you hadn't fucked up back then, then we wouldn't be here now, and I don't know about you, but I like where we are. I know it sounds silly, but I think that there is more trust between us because of what happened. There shouldn't be, but I think there is."

"It doesn't sound silly, Kat. I think there is more trust, as well."

I smile. "Good." I reach up and kiss him, wrapping my legs around his waist. I feel his tongue probing my lip for access, and I part my lips immediatley, allowing our tongues to battle for dominance. My fingers get trapped in his hair and I bring my legs back down. My hands trail down his back and under his shirt they go. I feel his do the same to me and feel his warm hands against the skin of my back. I close what little distance there is between us and deepen the kiss, before pulling away. He rests his forehead on mine and we look into each other's eyes, breathing heavily. I smile and am about to kiss him again when we are interrupted by a voice.

"Katniss?"

We both freeze. Both of us know the voice very well. Slowly we turn towards the sound of the voice.

Stood there, just a few steps in front of the lift, is Gale. And he does not look happy.

**Dun dun duuunnnnn! What do you think Gale is going to do/say? Please review and tell me what you think is going to happen next, and what you think of the story so far! (I'll give you a clue: the angry side of Cato will come out)**

**I am aware that it may not be up to standard with my previous chapters, but it's been a while since I've written, due to exams and stuff, so I'm sorry if it's not up to scratch with your expectations.**

**Also, if any of you have any ideas you think should be in this story, or even characters you want to appear, please please review and I'll see if it fits in with what I have planned.**

**I will try to update ASAP, depending on what stuff I have to do, but it should be quicker than last time!**

**Please read and review!**

**See ya soon!**

**Ruth xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Sorry it took me so long to update; I have writer's block and didn't know how to properly continue, so I understand if you think this is nowhere near your expectations of me... although there is a high amount of swearing in this chapter and a little bit of violence, as both Cato and Gale get angry, and I think they would both be characters that don't care about the language that comes out of their mouths. So sorry if I offend anyone with the obscene language, and if you get offended after reading this and complain, don't say that I didn't warn you!**

**I will give a shout-out to the best reviewer! (See below)**

**Anyhoo, I introduce chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: If I could, I would ask Suzanne Collins for The Hunger Games, but unfortunatley, I have no way of contacting her... :(**

Chapter 4

"Katniss, what are you doing?" Gale asks me. You can hear the anger clearly in his voice as he glares at Cato, his eyes stopping at his hand, which is rested on my waist.

"Gale, I-" I stutter, unsure how to complete the sentence.

"And _what_ are you doing with the fucking bastard that ruined your late teens by cheating on you?" he continues, seething with anger, still glaring at Cato.

Before I can attempt to answer, Cato speaks up. "What did you just call me?" he asks Gale, taking his hand from my waist and taking one step forward.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ludwig."

"Yeah? Well, you were looking at me, and I said, what did you just call me, Hawthorne?" He takes another step forward, glaring down at Gale.

"Fine. I called you a _fucking bastard_. Because that's what you are." Next thing I know, Cato has Gale pinned up against the wall and has his fist balled up, ready to throw a punch.

"You do not fucking call me a fucking bastard, you little piece of shit! What have you fucking done for Katniss in the last five years since she's been in this company? Fuck all, that's what you've done!"

"Yeah? Well what have you done for her, hmm?" Gale somehow manages to choke out. I see Cato tighten his grip on Gale.

"The first fucking day she got here, I apologised for being a dick and fucking up what was possibly the best relationship I'd been in, all because I'd let that fucking whore Glitter, or whatever her name was, get to me and seduce me. We didn't get serious, but I still felt fucking guilty for ruining her, when she eventually told me what she went through after I fucking broke her heart. After that day, I was as fucking good a friend to her as I could have been, until one day about a year and a half ago, when I asked her for a second chance, which she gave me. Since then, I've been as good to her as I could possibly be, so don't you fucking say that I haven't done anything for her, when I've done a fuck load more than you!" By the end of that, Cato is shouting in Gale's face, but it only seems to make Gale angrier.

"But how fucking long until you let another girl seduce you, Ludwig? How. Fucking. Long?" At this, Cato punches Gale in the face, and I hear a crack, signalling that Gale's nose is broken. Blood starts to gush out, but Gale just punches Cato in the stomach, causing him to effectively let go of Gale. They then go into a fully-flegded fist fight, but it becomes obvious that Cato is the stronger and more skilled one of the two. Before long, Cato has Gale in a headlock.

Cato lets out a cruel laugh. "Oh, Hawthorne, did you really think that you could beat me in a fist fight?" Gale lets out a grunt. "You did? What a fucking idiot you are. You know, I really want to snap your fucking neck right now, Hawthorne. That's how much I fucking hate you. Sharing a fucking office with you is torture, because all you do every day is send me fucking glares because of what happened like ten fucking years ago, when all along the person I fucking cheated on had forgiven me. And don't think I don't fucking know about your little schoolboy crush on Katniss. I do. And you know what I think? I think that you stand no fucking chance, because you are a fucking twat that is too overprotective of the girl he supposedly likes, and -"

At this point I finally find my voice, "Just stop it Cato! You're going to kill him, his face is going blue!"

He finally looks up at me, and I notice that his eyes are dark blue, like they are when he gets angry. "So what if I kill him? I'd be doing the world a favour!"

"You'd go to jail if you killed him!" I plead with him.

"So what? I'd still be doing the world a fucking favour. And who knows? Maybe jail would be fun! I'd have everything I need to survive; three meals a day, physical exercise, a bed to sleep on... hey, it might actually be good!" I see his grip on Gale tighten even more.

I pull out my last chance of saving Gale. "But Cato, you wouldn't have me." I see his eyes lighten a bit, as the words I said sink in. Slowly, he releases his death grip on Gale. I watch relief flood Gale's face as he manages to take in some air.

"You're right. I wouldn't have you," he says as he drops Gale and walks over to me to put his arms around me. "I'm sorry I even suggested it."

I smile sadly up at him. "It's ok." I reach up on my tiptoes and peck him on the lips. I look into his eyes and see they are almost back to their usual shade of blue. I smile at him, and he smiles back as Gale starts to cough. I glance over at him and he is starting to stand up, with his hands on his knees. He lifts up his head and locks eyes with me. His eyes don't show gratitude for saving his life; they still show anger, but this time the anger is aimed towards me.

"You lied to me earlier," Gale states. I look down.

I open my mouth to respond, but Cato speaks instead. "I haven't fucking spoken to you before then all day, Hawthorne, what are you -" he begins, but I cut him off.

"Cato, he was talking to me," I say softly, looking into his icy blue eyes once more.

"Oh," is all he can say.

I reply to Gale. "Yes, Gale, I know I lied to you, but did what else would I have done in that position?"

"I don't know, maybe tell me the truth?"

"Yes, because I'm sure you would have loved me to say, 'I'm sorry, Gale, you can't come round to have a movie night with me tonight because I'm spending the night with Cato, who has been my secret boyfriend for the past year and a half'," I say, the sarcasm evident in my tone of voice.

He laughs bitterly. "Well, it would have been nice to have a heads up, because otherwise my nose wouldn't be broken, I wouldn't be getting a black eye, and I wouldn't have just been almost strangled to death!" he says, raising his voice at me.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me, Gale Hawthorne," I spit.

"Why?" that one word is said with so much venom and anger I can feel myself almost boiling with rage.

"Because I still have the power to fire you and leave you jobless without any redundancy pay."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I? Because Finnick and I had a interview today, and while he didn't seem suited for role of assisstant manager, I'm pretty sure he would be perfect if he were to be in your job position."

This simple statement shuts him up. It's true, I did think that Peeta would be best suited in either Gale or Cato's position, but I didn't really want to fire either of them, or even move their position within the company, Gale just really pissed me off.

"Fine. But I have a question."

"Shoot," I say, still not too happy with Gale.

"Why did you keep your relationship a secret? And why act like you hate each other?"

I sigh. "We kept the relationship a secret because after I told everyone he cheated on me, I didn't want everyone to make a big deal about it, and tell me that I was making a mistake, because in the end, it was my decision. Besides, keeping it a secret seemed to work for us, so we never thought the need to tell you guys."

Gale nods, his eyes narrowed. "And my second question?"

_There was a second question?_ "Which was..." I motion with my hands to tell him to repeat the question.

"Why act like you hate each other?" he says, narrowing his eyes even more. I can tell that he's getting agitated.

"Oh, because I told everyone that I hated him, and after a discussion, we decided to keep up our pretence of hating each other. It was actually kind of fun, I thought."

I see Cato grin. "Yeah. It was fun for me too," he says, wrapping his arms around me.

Gale rolled his eyes. "Hmm. I still don't trust you, Ludwig," he says.

"And I still don't like you, Hawthorne," Cato counters.

"Yeah? Well, I still -" Gale begins.

"Will you two please quit it for a minute?" I interrupt. They both nod. "Good. Gale, you better not mention this to anyone else, alright? I still don't want our secret spilled."

"Why should I? Finnick will be very... _interested_ to find this out. As will Johanna."

"You better not." I glare at him.

"Oh, but I'm going to. Nothing you say will stop me, as I think they deserve to know what you've been up to with the guy they thought you hated."

"Fine. But you're putting your job on the line by doing that."

"Now, somehow I don't think Finnick will let that happen now will he?"

He's got me there. I'm stuck so I say the only thing I can. "Fine. Tell them. I don't care anymore." I'm fighting back tears, and Cato can sense this, so he starts rubbing my arms from behind.

"I think you should leave now, Hawthorne," Cato says, and I can tell he's trying to keep his temper, for me.

"Fine. I have one thing to say though, before I do."

"Go on. We're listening intently," Cato says, his voice an icy tone.

"I'm taking you to court, Ludwig."

Cato tenses up. "What the fuck for, Hawthorne?" he growls.

"For physical assault and attempted murder." Gale crosses his arms and smile smugly.

"You don't have the fucking guts," he says, raising his voice at Gale.

"You may not think I have the guts, but I do have the proof," he says, gesturing towards his broken nose, blackened eye and neck where the bruises from Cato's death-grip headlock are starting to show.

"Shit," Cato mumbles in my ear.

I decide to send Gale away. "Bye Gale," I say bluntly.

"Fine. See you tomorrow," he says fakely and heads to the lift, but turns around when he gets there. "Oh, and use protection. Don't want another child to look after, now do we, Katniss?" With that, the lift opens and he steps inside and turns to face us, smirking. The lift doors close.

**Oooohhhh evil Gale! ****I know it's shorter than usual, but I felt like that was a natural place for the chapter to end...**

**I actually had quite a lot of fun writing this chapter, as it was quite fun imagining what Cato and Gale might say to each other. Plus, I don't really like Gale, so I decided to make him not very nice, but that may change later in the story, depending on how I'm feeling. It probably won't, though. **

**What do you think will happen next? Please review and tell me what you think of the story, if you like/dislike it, what you think will happen next, and even if you have anything you want to happen, or even characters you want to appear in the story, review/PM me and I'll see if it fits in with the ideas floating in my head, and see if it will work in the story.**

**I have decided that I will give a shout-out to the person who posts the best review (be it the funniest, the kindest, the one with an amazing idea, or the most helpful), so get to reviewing!**

**See ya soon!**

**Ruth xx**


	5. Chapter 5: Should've Said No

**A/N OMG guys I'm sooo sorry I haven't updated in like forever! I have HUGE writers block and I wanted to make this chapter the best I could...**

**Some of you may have noticed that I have changed my pen name :) don't worry, it's still me :D... and I have also decided that this story will be Catoniss, but with some one-sided Everlark, as lots of people want it to stay as a Catoniss.**

**Shout-out goes to InLoveWithHG, as their review made me laugh when I read it, and their stories are truly AMAZING too! But, seriously, all of the reviews were awesome, so please keep reviewing!**

**Anyhoo, here is chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, although I wish I could... Also, the song belongs to Taylor Swift, not me, although it does say that Katniss wrote it...**

Chapter 5

We watch the number above the lift decrease until it says 'G' for ground in stunned silence. We stay stood there for a few minutes, Cato's head resting on mine, his arms wrapped tightly around my body. I can tell he's fuming, but trying to control his anger, as I can feel his short, shallow breaths. Gradually he manages to gain control of his breathing, and then turns me around and looks in my eyes.

"What the fuck just happened?" he breathes in my ear.

"I really don't know, I've never seen Gale like that before. I mean, sure he gets angry, but that, that looked... I don't even know!" I say, and rest my head against his chest.

He sighs. "Well, you do realise that if he does follow through with that threat, I probably will get put in jail. The evidence is against me, after all."

Now it's my turn to sigh. "Cato, if that does happen, _**if**_ it happens, then we'll just take it as it comes, alright?" I look up to see him nod before placing my head back on his chest and continuing. "Besides, Gale is normally just empty threats and I can usually convince him otherwise."

Cato lifts my chin so I am looking in his eyes. "Really?" I nod. "Hmm. I don't know, he seemed pretty serious when he said the whole 'I'm taking you to court, Ludwig' thing."

"Listen, I'll speak to him tomorrow so that we can put this whole thing behind us and get on with our lives," I say, in an attempt to end the conversation. He nods and starts stroking my hair, and I can tell that he's in deep thought.

"I'm sorry," he says after a few minutes.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "What for?"

"For ruining your birthday, and let's be honest, I really don't feel in the mood for sex anymore, after that."

"Cato, you did _**not**_ ruin my birthday. if anyone did, it was Gale, because I told him not to come over tonight, yet he did. And he pissed you off, which in turn also pisses me off. And you do know we don't have to have sex every time we spend a night together."

"I never hear you complaining," he says, smirking. "In fact, I'm sure that I've heard you begging for more on more than one occasion..."

I slap his arm, hard, but he doesn't even bat an eyelid. "Cato!" I whisper-shout, glaring at him.

"What? It's not like there's anone else here, Kat," he says, with an innocent-looking smile on his face.

I roll my eyes at him and look around the room, desperate to find something that will help me change the topic. My eyes land on the kitchen counter and I can almost feel the lightbulb going off in my head. "Cato, it's like quarter past seven, the pizza will be cold!"

I see him glance at the clock on the wall, and his eyes widen almost comically when he sees the time. "Oh, shit, you're right! We better start eating then," he says with a grin. I get two plates out of the cupboard and pour wine into two glasses, before placing the pizza box, the plates, the glasses and the bottle of wine on the coffee table. As I'm placing a DVd in the TV, I hear Cato's voice: "So, what film are we watching?" I smirk to myself and make sure the DVD starts playing before sitting on the sofa next to Cato.

It's then I reply. "The Hunger Games."

I hear Cato snort. "Any particular reason?"

"No, I just felt like it," I reply, leaning into his chest as he places his arm around me.

"Fair enough. It's a good film, anyway," he says as the film starts with a scream from Willow, the little sister of the main character, Jennifer. We watch the film quietly, until the tributes are waiting for the parade to start, which is where Cato interrupts. "I think she should have ended up with the guy from District 2. What's his name? Alex? Alexander?"

"It's Alexander. And why do you say that?"

"Because, although he's seen as the supposed bad guy in this film, I think that they would have made a better couple than her and that Josh guy, or even that Liam dude that she hunts with. Plus, _**major **_plot twist!"

"Again: why? Do you not like Liam or Josh?" I decide to get his opinion on this matter.

"Well, I think that Liam seems to be a prick, kind of reminds me of Gale, which is never a good sign, and I just think that Josh is a pussy, going around painting and baking and not wanting to kill anyone, when that's how you win!"

"Wow, Cato, I didn't realise you were so opinionated," I say, teasing him now.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing!" he says, sounding fakely offended.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," I reply, wanting to get back to the film. Cato continues to make remarks throughout the rest of the film, and we finish at around ten. All the pizza has been eaten, all the wine drunk and we dump the stuff in the dishwasher before going off to bed.

Snuggled up to Cato, with my head on his chest and his arms wrapped almost protectively around me, it's not long before the depths of sleep find and engulf me.

_I am stood on another round pedestal, again facing a tall, golden cornucopia. Except this time, I'm surrounded by water. The horn goes off and I dive into the water and swimm towards the cornucopia. I grab a b ow when I get there and start talking to Finnick. Finnick? What's he doing there? He runs off and swims Peeta Mellark over to me. What, Peeta Mellark here as well? What is going on? And why is he in my dream again?_

_Now we're running through a forest, and suddenly Peeta's on the floor. I'm screaming, in hysterics, when Finnick starts performing CPR on him. He coughs back to life and I seem to calm down. We settle down for the night and are sharply awoken by a thick wall of fog descending upon us. We run from it, but quickly start to lose control of our bodies. We finally escape the fog, and are on the edge of another forest when we are attacked by monkeys. We manage to fend them off, and collapse on the beach._

_We now have three more people in our little group: Jo, Beetee and another woman. Jo and Beetee here too? Who else is going to be here? the we're at the base of the cornucopia, fighting. Suddenly, it spins and we're on another beach. Then Finnick and I are chasing something through the forest. We are then crouching, covering our ears with our heads to drown out some sound._

_I'm sat next to Peeta on a beach. He gives me a pearl and shows me a locket that has two pictures: one of Prim and my mother, the other of Gale. How does he have pictures of them? Finnick says something from behind us and I lie down and go to sleep._

_Now I'm holding a wire, with Jo walking next to me, when she suddenly pins me down, holds my arm and cuts it with a knife. She runs away and I stagger back in the direction we were coming from. I reach a very tall tree, and see Beetee lying on the ground. I loom around, stare at a spot in the air that seems to be shimmering ans shoot at it. Then everything goes black._

My eyes shoot open and I'm looking at darkness. I lie ther for a second, wondering why I keep having tweird dreams like that, but push the thought out of my mind. I try to turn over to look at my clock, but it's then that I register Cato's arm draped protectively over my waist, so I just fumble in the dark, trying to pick it up. I finally feel it under my hand, and bring it up to my face, looking at it in the dim glow from the nightlight. 3:05. I sigh and place it back on my table and, deciding that I'm not going to get back to sleep quickly, carefully remove Cato's arm from around my waist and get up.

Initially I go stand on the balcony, watching the now-quiet city sleep. I stand there for a few minutes, taking in the fresh air, but then quickly decide that I have an urge to play my guitar. I open the door of the closet and fish my guitar out, trying desperately to be quiet. I then make sure that the door to the bedroom is closed properly, so I don't wake Cato up, before heading back onto the balcony.

I sigh and gaze back over the city once more as my fingers autoatically start to play a song I haven't played or had the need to sing for a long time. My fingers and playing are a bit rusty, but the song still sounds as it did all those years ago when I used to play it all the time.

_It's strange to think the songs we used to sing  
the smiles, the flowers, everything  
is gone.  
Yesterday I found out about you  
even now just looking at you  
feels wrong._

_You say that you'd take it all back, given one chance  
it was a moment of weakness and you said yes._

_You should've said no, you should've gone home,  
you should've thought twice 'fore you let it all go,  
you should've known that word 'bout what you did with her  
would get back to me.  
And I should have been there, in the back of your mind,  
I shouldn't be asking myself why,  
you shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet  
you should've said no, baby and you might still have me._

_You can see that I've been crying,  
and baby you know all the right things  
to say.  
But do you honestly expect me to believe  
we could ever be the same?_

_You say that the past is the past, you need one chance  
it was a moment of weakness and you said yes._

_You should've said no, you should've gone home,  
you should've thought twice 'fore you let it all go,  
you should've known that word 'bout what you did with her  
would get back to me.  
And I should have been there, in the back of your mind,  
I shouldn't be asking myself why,  
you shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet  
you should've said no, baby and you might still have me._

_I can't resist, before you go tell me this  
was it worth it, was she worth this?_

_No, no, no no no no, no_

_You should've said no, you should've gone home,  
you should've thought twice 'fore you let it all go,  
you should've known that word 'bout what you did with her  
would get back to me.  
And I should have been there, in the back of your mind,  
I shouldn't be asking myself why,  
you shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet  
you should've said no, baby and you might still have me._

_You should've said no,  
baby and you might still have me._

I sigh, looking out over the skyline, and then close my eyes, engulfed in the memory that this song brings back.

A tear falls down my cheek, just as a voice rings out. "That song was beautiful." I jump and whirl around, and see Cato standing behind me.

"You... you heard that?" I ask.

He nods. "I was awake from the moment you moved my arm, and was about to speak when you walked out of the door, then Isnuck out when I heard music."

"Oh," I say, a blush on my cheeks.

"Seriously, that song was amazing."

The blush on my cheeks darkens. "I wrote it not long after I found you kissing Glimmer. I was so upset, and that song somehow got me through some of the heartbreak. It's been a long time since I played it, though."

I feel his arms wrap around my waist. "You wrote that song... about us?" I nod. "Wow. I didn't realise what I did affected you so much. I'm so sorry. Have you written anything else?"

"It's fine, Cato, it's all in the past. And no, I haven't written anything else." He just nods and we stand there for a while, both of us just looking over the city, thinking about our messed up past.

**And there it is! I've got to be real quick, so I'll say it simple: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**

**Ruth xx**


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